Nightmares
by Hiro the Wolf
Summary: On the outside, Ash seems like the happiest person in the world. On the inside, he has many demons that torment him with his past that only his brothers and mom know about. So what happens when he’s hit with a Nightmare attack and he must relive all those


Nightmares

Summery: On the outside, Ash seems like the happiest person in the world. On the inside, he has many demons that torment him with his past that only his brothers and mom know about. So what happens when he's hit with a Nightmare attack and he must relive with those nightmares. Will Misty be able to save him?

Ages: Ash; 15, Misty;15, Max; 9, May; 12, Brock; 16, Red; 18, Kamon; 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon™. Nintendo does.

Once again, our heroes are walking down towards Lilycove City. The only problem is that they were lost. (Readers face fault) "Ash Ketchum! I can't believe you got us lost AGAIN!" Misty yelled, scaring many Pokemon that were in the trees and along the trail. "Calm down Misty. Ash wasn't even the one with the PokeNav." Brock said to calm her. "I don't care! It's Mr. Pokemon Master's fault here!" she yelled. While this was going on, May and Max were looking at Ash as his face got redder and redder. Finally, he snapped. "Why don't you just stop berating my Ms. I'm So Great! You're always insulting me and blaming things on me when they aren't my fault, and when they are and I try to apologize, you just put my face in it! Why don't you just leave me alone for once in both our lives!" he yelled, and then ran off.

The four just stood there as their friend ran off and out of sight. Brock, May and Max all glared at the red head. "He's right you know. You never give him a break." Brock said as he started off in the direction Ash went. Misty looked ashamed. She never thought that she'd get him so angry about their fighting. May and Max finally got her attention, and they tried to catch up to Brock. They all walked in an uncomfortable silence until May finally broke it. "Misty, you really shouldn't have said that. While you kept blaming him, his face got so red." she said. "I know he's angry, and I'm sorry, but I don't understand why he just ran off." Misty said back. "I know why. Right before he ran off, I saw that he was crying. Not enough to notice unless you were as close as May and me were to him. He ran so we wouldn't see him while he cried." Max explained.

"Ash was crying?" Misty asked in a confused voice. _"He never cries unless it has to do with a Pokemon. I've always blamed him before and he never did this. And I've never seen Ash mad at anything before. Why would he all of a sudden be this way?"_ She asked herself.

Ash kept on running, trying to get away from Misty and the blame that she kept on putting on him. He was sick of it. Even when nothing was his fault, she just went and blamed him. Or, were they his fault? _"No! I can't start thinking that way again! This wasn't my fault! Or, is it? She wouldn't blame me if it wasn't, would she?"_ he kept thinking. It was so hard. Was he really to blame for getting them lost? Maybe she was saying that he should say when to go what direction, but whenever he did that before, he was always wrong, and still got the blame. Finally, Ash came to a halt and sat down under a tree to catch his breath. As soon as he stopped, he could feel the tears that had been running down his face as he ran. Ash tried to hold the rest of them back, but failed as millions more trailed down his face.

He curled up under the tree, refusing to remember all the other times he had cried like this, all the other times people had laid the blame on him. Maybe them getting lost was his fault, but it didn't help him out in any way.

Brock, Misty, May and Max were still looking for Ash when they did find him. He'd calmed down quite a bit, but was still in pretty bad shape. He kept shaking his head, trying to forget the memories that wanted to emerge. Ash had made himself forget them, but that didn't mean that they didn't sometimes sneak back up on him and bite him in the butt. The others watched him, keeping themselves hidden, and saw him fight an inner battle with himself. When he finally calmed down enough, they let him know that they were there.

"Ash! We've been looking for you everywhere! You okay?" Brock asked. Ash looked up, surprised to see him there, but answered. "Sorry about that guys. And I'm fine now." he said as he put on a fake smile. The others did think he was back to normal somewhat, mainly because the smile they saw was the one he had on a daily basis. But Misty saw through it. She knew that he couldn't have gotten back to normal that fast. She saw that the smile was his normal one, which shocked her. She realized that it could mean that whenever he gave them a smile he was really in pain from something. She decided to let it go for now.

"Ash, I'm really sorry about earlier. I was just upset we were lost." she said. She saw Ash falter, but then act normal. "Don't worry about it. Let's just get going." he said, then turn before the others could catch on to his expression. The others just followed him, thinking that everything was back to normal, but Misty knew. _"I'll just have to find out what's wrong another way."_ she thought as they made their way to Lilycove.

They finally got close enough to Lilycove City to see the buildings, and knew that they didn't have to camp out that night. And because of that, a trainer came and asked if one of them would battle him. (Kid's name isn't important, so I'm not even going to give him one.) Ash told them that he wasn't in the mood to battle, which did shock everyone, but then Misty took him on instead. They decided on a one-on-one battle, and the two Pokemon were the kid's, (Hmmm. What Pokemon don't I like? I don't want it to be one I really like. Got it!) Banette and Misty's Politoed. It looked like Misty was going to win the match, but then Banette used a Nightmare attack, which missed Politoed. Misty dodged it also, but Ash didn't see it coming.

The attack hit him dead on and the force made him slam into the tree behind him. The others ran to him, while the kid ran after returning his Pokemon. (And then the author kills him as a rabid Rhydon rams into him! Not really, but this is why I didn't want to give the kid a name.) They couldn't wake Ash up, which really worried them. They could tell he was alive because of his breathing, but his breathing was very rapid and they could tell he was dreaming or something because of how his eyes moved under his lids. Brock quickly got Ash on his back and they ran to Lilycove and into a hospital.

The doctors quickly rushed Ash into a room, where they hooked him up to all the stuff they normally hook people up to. (Give me a break! I haven't ever needed to go to the hospital before.) The gang was allowed in there with him, mainly because the doctors didn't know what to do. They'd never had anyone get hit by a Nightmare attack! They said that they did know of one doctor that had been known to be able to cure the problem, and quickly called him. He said that he and his brother would be there as quickly as they could, and arrived within five minutes.

The two were young, but well known. The older one had red hair and green eyes, while the younger one had brown hair and hazel eyes. Their names were Red and Kamon. "Alright. Give me the info. on the patient." he ordered, and then was given the clip board with Ash's name. As soon as Kamon saw it, his eyes got wide and he ran as fast as he could to the room. Red, unsure of why his brother was acting like this, followed as quickly as possible.

Brock was waiting outside Ash's room for the doctor, and was just about to go in when he saw Kamon rushing down the hall, followed closely by Red. Red was able to stop, since he had noticed the, 'wet floors' sign, but Kamon wasn't as fortunate. He slipped but caught himself. "Why the hell are you rushing like the devil's after you Kamon?" Red almost yelled. "Because if this thing's right, then we have to move now!" Kamon said as he thrust the clipboard to Red. He read over it, then said, "SHIT!" and ran into the room, proving that the paper was right. In there, lay their little brother, that had a chance of dying, because they knew about the whole deal with the Nightmare attack.

Kamon and Red rushed in, and started moving stuff around so that they would have more room. "What are you doing?" May asked. "Red, you keep moving this stuff around, and I'll get Ash ready and answer their questions." he said. Red nodded, continuing the work. "Alright, as I hope you know, the Nightmare attack is meant to give the victim nightmares, hence the name. The problem is that since it attack Ash, it's not making nightmares, but making him see his own, which is really bad. Not to mention, the victim isn't able to wake up on their own like a Pokemon normally would." he explained.

"What's going to happen to Ash?" Misty asked. Kamon gave a sigh, then explained. "Well, the attack has different effects on everyone. It's usually nonfatal, but if you've ever gone through a depression, then it is." "So, Ash isn't any real danger." Max said relieved. Both Red and Kamon stopped their work, looked at each other, then at Ash's friends and realized that he'd never told them. "Are you his friends, or did you just see what happened?" Red asked, somewhat harshly. "What's that suppose to mean?" Brock asked protectively. "Both of you stop. Red, I'm not all that surprised. You think he'd actually tell someone about it when he wants to forget himself." he said.

Red quickly calmed down, seeing his point, but the others started asking questions. "Okay. How do you two know Ash, and why did you ask that last question?" Misty asked, wanting to get the facts straight. Kamon sighed, and then answered. "Red and I are Ash's older brothers. I'm not sure why he didn't tell you about us, but I do know why Red said that last thing." he left off, cueing Red. "I thought that you guys must've only seen what happened because of when you said that we didn't have to worry about Ash. We do. He has been in a depression before, because of when our dad died. He may seem happy around you guys, but I know that it's just a front. All I know is that we have to get him out of his nightmares before they cause too much strain on his body and dies." Red said as he was working.

The others stood there, trying to take in what Red had said. Misty took it the hardest. _"I can't believe I actually made fun of him all this time! If I'd known, then I'd never had messed with him! That's why he ran off. He didn't want us to see how I'd affected him."_ she thought, finally realizing the truth. "So, how are we going to wake him up?" Misty asked. Kamon looked at them, then explained. "Well, we're going to use a Psychic Pokemon to help us get another person's mind in Ash's, that way, we'll be able to free him from the attack. The only thing is, I have no clue how dangerous it'll be. We've never been able to do this on someone with this much of a risk, which is why you aren't going Red." he said firmly. Red stopped and turned. "What are you talking about? I'm always the one that does it!" he stated. "Not always. Remember when we started out with this treatment. We'd always have someone close to them go in and help. I know that we're his brothers, but I think that one of them should go in." Kamon said, referring to the gang. "You want one of us?" Brock asked. Kamon nodded to him, then to Red. He understood what he meant, and threw out a PokeBall. Out came an Alakazam, that already seemed to know its job.

"Now then, do one of you want to do this? I'm not going to force anyone, but I'm pretty sure that Ash would react to one of you better than he would Red or me." Kamon explained. They all thought about it silently, then Misty stepped up. "I'll do it." she said. The others didn't expect her to do it, but then realized that she wanted to so she could help Ash and help make up for all the times she'd put him down. "Alright. We've made enough room so we can get another bed in here, so when it's here, we'll do the job. But after that, it's all up to you. There's no way we'll be able to help you in any way until Ash wakes up. You'll probably wake up before him after the job's done, alright." he told her as the second bed was put in. Kamon hooked her up to a heart monitor, and Alakazam did his thing, and Misty was sent off into Ash's mind.

Misty suddenly felt lighter than air, then noticed that she was floating and almost see-through. She knew that meant that she was in Ash's mind, but didn't really know what to do next. Before she could decide on what to do, she heard yelling. She looked around until she saw two figures; Mrs. Ketchum and another man. "It's that damn boy's fault and you know it! If he'da stopped Satoshi before he left, then my brother would be alive right now!" yelled the man. "Ash didn't know anything was wrong! Lower your voice before they hear you! Sato knew what he was getting into." Delia said right back to him. Misty was confused, but kept listening. "If that bastard of a child hadn't been born, and it had only been Kamon and Red, then Satoshi would be alive, and you know it! That, that BOY killed his own FATHER!" the man yelled.

Misty was shocked to hear that someone was blaming Ash for someone else's death. She was scared about what Ash had gone through already. "Ash is only a child! He isn't even five yet, and you're blaming him for something he can't even understand!" Delia said back. "Exactly. Kamon knew things that amazed people! He has a high IQ, and Ash is nothing compared to him! And Red is the best sports player Pallet has ever seen, and again, Ash has nothing! That boy is NOTHING compared to Kamon and Red! All he is, is a disgrace to the Ketchum name!" the man yelled. "Red and Kamon are seven and six. They've been able to study and train longer than Ash, so you can't compare them to him and be fair!" she said, but was then cut off by a whimper.

Misty heard it too, and looked over at the entry way to the living room, to see a four year old Ash there, having heard the whole argument. "Ash." she said, wanting to get his attention, but he didn't hear or see her. Delia took a step towards her son, only for him to run as fast as he could. It was then that Misty could also hear thunder and rain, signaling that it was in the middle of a storm. Misty went after him as fast as she could, even though she wasn't use to the airless feeling, and tried her best to catch him. When she finally caught up to him, she found him the same way they had found Ash earlier; curled up into a ball, crying. She floated down to him and tried to touch him, but she simply slipped through his body. "It's all my fault Daddy's gone. And Mama said that I can't be compared to Kaymen and Wed." he said to himself.

Misty, shocked to hear him say that, understood why he thought that. Mrs. K had said it in a way that a four year old wouldn't understand. Just then, the scenery changed.

Misty was in some kind of office with a man sitting in a big chair, and she saw Ash, who seemed to be slightly older, in another chair. The thing that shocked her though, was how Ash looked. He had a scowl on his face and wore only black. "So Ash, do you want to talk about anything? Want to get anything off your chest?" the man said in a slow, calm voice. Ash glared at him, and said, "Stop talking to me like I'm retarded, and no, I don't want to say anything ya shrink!" he said harshly. The man looked somewhat alarmed, but kept his demeanor.

"You sure? It's nice to talk things out. It might make you feel better." he said in the same voice. Ash glared at him, but refused to talk. The psychiatrist sighed, and decided that was it for the day. Misty was surprised to see that Ash had ever acted like that. When the man told Ash to go, Delia walked in, and sat down. "He's still not responsive. I think you're going to have to give him the anti-depressants." he said. Delia looked shocked, but agreed. "I think you're right, but I know Ash won't take them willingly." she said. Misty gasped at that. _"Does Mrs. Ketchum really want to put Ash on a drug? He can't be that badly off to need them, can he?"_ she thought. She looked back over at the door, and saw Ash spying on them, hearing about the plan. "You can put in his food or drinks, I suppose. But I advise you to do it soon. He isn't getting any better, and now that he's older, he may start look at cutting and suicide." the psychiatrist said, not aware that Ash had heard him.

Ash walked away after that, knowing that his mom was going to do it. "Great! Now she's going to try and get me hooked on some damned pill! And I've known about cutting and suicide for a long time genius!" he said to himself, but Misty was able to hear him. Again she was shocked, and hoped that Ash hadn't ever actually tried either of those things.

The world then changed to that night, and she saw the Ketchum's eating dinner. Well, Delia, Red, and Kamon were eating, but Ash just glared at his plate. "Ash, why don't you eat something?" his mom asked. Ash looked up, and said, "I'll only eat if Red or Kamon will trade with me." Kamon and Red looked at him weirdly, but agreed until Delia stopped them. "Ash, you're eating your own food, alright." she said in a somewhat stern voice. "I knew it! You did take that shrink's advice and try and get me to take one of those damn pills!" he yelled as he got up from the table. Red and Kamon looked at each other, confused. Delia looked shocked, and realize that Ash had heard their conversation. "Ash, I don't want to hear you use that kind of language. I don't know what you're talking about, but please eat something." she asked. "I'm not eating unless you allow me to eat someone else's food, so I know I'm not getting drugged. It's a sad day when you can't even trust your own family, isn't it?" he said in a sarcastic voice, and then ran up to his room. Misty, again followed him to his room that was all dark colors. "Why can't they just leave me alone? That damn shrink doesn't even KNOW what happened and thinks that he can get me to believe that it's not my fault when it is! It's my fault Dad's dead! And now I even got Mom to turn on me! Everything about my life's my fault." he said sadly, and started to cry slightly. Misty looked over at Ash, scared at how far he was taking this. Again, the scene changed.

This time, she saw the Ash she first met. She, Ash and Brock were traveling, and then she heard something that she wish she didn't. She heard herself blaming Ash. "It's YOUR FAULT that we're lost! I can't believe how anyone can be so DENSE!" she berated. Instead of looking at herself, she looked at Ash, flinching every time she blamed him. Ash refused to say anything though, and Brock finally stepped in, finally ceasing her yelling. "I already know it's my fault. I don't need someone to tell my that." he whispered, but only Misty (not the one from the memory) heard him. Before the scene faded out, she whispered, "I'm so sorry Ash."

This time, she was in a forest, and she saw Ash and herself walking together. "Alright Ash, what is it you want to tell me?" Dream Misty asked impatiently. Real Misty saw that he was nervous, and scared. "Well, Misty. You see, I was kinda wanting to tell you thatIloveyou!" he said quickly. Both Misty's tried to understand what he had said, and the both heard it. "You love me?" Dream Misty asked. The real Misty looked over at him, shocked, then heard something that she'd never say. "How can someone like YOU love me? I mean, you're can't even have me in your dreams because of how much you're not worthy! I think I'll just leave now considering you basically ruined our friendship Ash." Dream Misty said as she walked off. Before Ash could go after her, Brock appeared behind him with the others. "We're leaving too Ash. The only point we stayed with you was because Misty was here and now that you've ruined that, you'll have to live with knowing that you ruined your friendships with us too." he said as he, May, and Max walked off. Ash dropped to the ground and started to cry, mumbling that it was his fault that he had no one and nothing over and over.

Finally, Misty couldn't take it anymore and yelled, "It's not your fault Ash!" Suddenly, the scene turned completely black, and she started to blank out.

When Misty opened her eyes, she saw that she was back in the hospital room. "Guys! Misty's awake!" Max yelled, catching everyone else's attention. Red and Kamon acknowledged it, then ran over to Ash to find him waking up. Ash bolted up, breathing hard and didn't know what had happened. "ASH!" everyone yelled including Misty.

Ash saw that his brothers were there, and that his friends were too, but he didn't say anything. "You alright bro?" Red asked. Ash nodded when he finally was able to understand that he wasn't in the woods outside of Lilycove anymore, and asked, "What happened?" Brock, May, and Max looked at him, having never heard him speak in a frightened voice, but didn't say anything. "You were hit by a nightmare attack, and I know you know that me and Red work with people who are hit with the attack." Kamon said. Ash nodded, and said, "So, I guess that means Red was in my head." "Actually, we thought that you'd react better if one of your friends did it." Kamon said, but stopped when he saw Ash go pale.

"So, who went in my mind?" he asked. "Misty did." May answered simply. With that said, Ash got even more pale, and Kamon decided that it would be best for them to leave. "Alright, Ash needs to be able to rest, so everyone out." he ordered. His friends were reluctant to leave, but did. Misty was the last one out and asked, "You going to be alright Ash?" Ash looked over at her, knowing that she had seen his last nightmare and nodded. "I won't tell, if you don't want me to." she said. "Please don't." he said, in the most vulnerable voice she'd ever heard Ash speak in. Misty nodded, then left the room to leave Ash alone.

When they had all gone, Ash turned away from the door, and started to cry. He had caused himself to forget all the memories of his childhood, and now they were all back, daring him to do something drastic. All his faults, all the fights, everything was back, and stabbing at him with new power. "And now Misty knows how I feel about her. Soon she'll tell me that we can't be friends anymore and I'll be all alone because the others will leave." he whimpered. He cried until he fell back asleep, but was still being plagued by his nightmares. Even if he was no longer under the effect of the attack, he had done its damage, and Ash didn't think it would ever be able to be repaired again.

Misty had woken up for some reason, and decided to go and watch the ocean. It was nice to be able to be near the hospital for Ash and still be near the beach. The only thing was that she hadn't been expecting one thing. She gasped when she saw Ash sitting on the beach, just watching the ocean. "Ash?" Ash turned around to see Misty there, but quickly turned back before she could see his face. Misty still walked over, though, and sat right next to him. "You're suppose to be in bed resting." she said. "Just because I'm not being affected by the attack doesn't mean I wasn't having nightmares." he stated bluntly.

Misty looked over at his face, and before Ash could hide it with his hair, she saw how red his eyes were and the tear stains that ran down his face. "Ash? Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, but immediately knew that she shouldn't have. Ash's expression went dark and he said, "Don't act like that damn shrink my mom took me to." It shocked her, but then Ash apologized. "I hate it when people do that. Think that they can understand something when they only know part of it. That's why I never spoke to him. He'd heard one side from my mom, but no one else. He just wanted to make money." he said, again with hate in his voice.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that Ash." Misty said. "You honestly don't know half of it." he said quietly this time. She turned to him again, this time to see his eyes tearing up. Out of reflex, Misty brought her hand to his face and wiped them away. He was surprised at the gesture, and said, "You're the first one to actually wipe my eyes since my dad was alive." Misty heard the crack in his voice, and said, "It's alright to cry sometimes." And that's what Ash did. He jumped into her arms and cried onto her shoulder. Misty held onto him until he finally calmed down again. After that, Ash pulled away from her, surprising Misty.

"Just say it already. Say that the dream was right and that you're going to leave. I know you don't feel the same." he said sadly. Misty was surprised that he brought up the dream, quickly replied. "How do you know when I haven't told you anything?" she questioned, then kissed him right on the lips, catching him off guard. He quickly melted into the new embrace and returned her kiss. When they finally broke apart, she whispered, "I love you too, Ash." Ash looked at her in the eyes, and could tell she wasn't lying, and gave a smile. Not the smile that he usually had on, but a completely truthful smile that no one had seen from him since his dad had died.

Before either of them could say or do anything else, Ash let out a tired yawn. "You should go back to sleep. I'll stay near your room if you need anything." Misty promised. Ash nodded, and allowed himself to be led back to his room. Maybe this time, he could get real help and heal the right way.

Author's Note: Finally got this one done! I've been working on this fanfic since way back in October and finally was able to get it done. I know it's sad, and I blame it on all the people that wrote Nightmare fanfics based off of Misty. So I wouldn't be copying anyone, I decided to do Ash. I was going to put Hiro in here, but I thought I should do Kamon and Red instead. You'll be seeing Kamon soon though, since my next fanfic will star him and the gang. That story will be a Pokemon version of _The Day After Tomorrow._ Until then!


End file.
